• I woke up on the windowsill at home. Snow fell down like fluffy feathers outside in the courtyard. I stretched sleepily, with a loud gaping yawn.
    I slid off of the windowsill and on to the cool wooden floors. I cringed hopping from one foot to the other trying to retain the small amount of warmth I had. This is always what happened when I woke up on a bitter winter morning. I continued to hop from one foot to the other as I strode in to my bedroom.
    Shima had asked me to take care of her bone cage Senior Abuelo. I really didn't know why she called him Mr. Grandpa, but it was still a funny name. Senior Abuelo creaked a little as he shifted on my desk to look out of the window. His bony wings and long tail kept him balanced as the snowflakes fell on my window.
    "Ah, hola Itsumi," he said with his Spanish accent when he noticed me.
    "Hey there," I replied plucking him up off of my desk by his tail.
    "What are you doing?" he yelled indignantly. "I was watching the lovely snow."
    I looked at the bone imp amused. That's right people, he was just a creature made of bones. Shima had told me once before that the souls of dearly departed could be drawn in to the bones by the proper Bone Singer. She had called Senior Abuelo because she had wanted a person who had fought in battles before. Technically Senior Abuelo had been a Spanish conquistador that had died on the ship ride over to the New World.
    “I need to change in to my uniform,” I replied flatly, “And I prefer my privacy.”
    I tossed Senior Abuelo out in to the hallway with a twist of my wrist. He was a lot lighter then I had expected. He hit the wall opposite to my door and slowly slid down until his head hit the floor with a light, “Clank.”
    “Sorry,” I said cringing. “You weren’t supposed to be so light.”
    Senior Abuelo looked at me angrily. “No organs, muscle, or meat on my bones. Am I supposed to be heavy?”
    I apologized again before closing my door behind me. The night before I had put my winter uniform on top of my dresser. All it really was a purple skirt that came to my knees and had a pair of sweatpants underneath with a heavier long sleeve matching purple uniform top that had a blue tie with it. As I picked up my shirt, I glanced at the clock.
    It was forty minutes until I needed to be sitting in my seat at class, but school was fifteen minutes away when walking on foot like I did. Most of the time I would also slow down to look at my surroundings or talk to friends, making it so I had to hurry to change out of my pajamas.
    I threw on my heavy purple school jacket that came to my waist. Before I left my room I had to put on my upperclassman badge or as other people call it, a guard badge and my special watch that helped me transform off of school grounds in to my fighting uniform. Most people weren’t allowed the watches unless they had become a city guard to help fend off this new force that had suddenly appeared.
    Breaking out of my thoughts, I reopened my door and walked outside. Senior Abuelo sat on the windowsill I had slept on last night watching the snow curiously.
    “Are you coming with me or staying?” I asked pulling my brown hair out from under my coat.
    “Shima will be here eventually after she has walked about the graveyard again and when she has completed her errands. I wish to greet her,” he said placing his hands on the window.
    “Okay then,” I said opening the door that lead out to the courtyard. “I need to hurry up and get to school.”
    Senior Abuelo grunted, not bothering to turn around. I didn’t mind. He and Shima had been very close since they had begun training like two-part harmony to fight with one another. But Senior Abuelo also had to deal with Squeak and Rough. Shima told me the names had seemed to fit the other bone cages. Squeak was a small bone like bug that always sat on top of her head. He was a know it all and could navigate like my guard watch but instead with his antennae (Don’t ask me why he had antennae when he is a bone cage, Shima doesn’t even know).
    Then for Rough, he was a bigger version of Senior Abuelo. He had wings and the same face features, but no legs, just a long tail, but had the personality of a bulldog. Oh, I nearly forgot to mention Clack, her Bone Caller. He was this skull that Shima had tied a red frayed ribbon to make an X on his head. He fastened on to Shima like a leash by twisting his white tail on her wrist, after doing that he could call up bones of something like a dinosaur from the ground nearby. Shima could then use this to her advantage by attacking with the dinosaur, but it was only one attack before the dinosaur crumbled to dust.
    I didn’t get that. When I had fought her in the Stadium of Warriors, she could summon up the dinosaur or whatever for as long as she wanted. I didn’t have the courage to ask her why that had changed.
    After navigating my way out of the courtyard, and out of the house I began making my way towards school. The snow fell softly on my hair and clothing, before melting slowly. My shoes had snow glued to the sides, but it didn’t bother me as long as the snow couldn’t sink in to my shoes. The snow crunched under my feet with, making my shoes squeak as I went along.
    Ahead I heard the sounds of a person training. It didn’t sound quite like anyone else I had seen fight, and believe me I’ve seen a lot of people battle. I quickened my pace to see Blaze and Iku. The twin brothers who had saved me from being killed at the Stadium of Warriors, only a month before.
    Iku was a hardheaded teen who had an impish face. His eyes were a crystal blue, that almost appeared to be ice, and oddly his hair was the same color. Hence, his name was so close to the word ice. The family they belonged to had a language of their very own, and from what I gathered Iku meant icy. He was a guard of the city too, but he was reckless making it so Blaze had to usually save his butt.
    Then there was Blaze, whom I have known since he goes to my school. Unlike his twin, Blaze is very reserved and does not care for anything to do with arrogant behavior. He has this saying that arrogance will always lead to destruction. I sort of liked him too, maybe a bit more then a friend, but maybe it was just my imagination.
    He had told me that he had liked me for quite some time after we had escaped from the Stadium. I tried to make it so I was answering back if I liked him, but I ended up excusing myself saying I needed to get home.
    As I got closer Iku stopped sparring with thin air. He looked over to me, waving as if pleased I had just got there. Blaze sat on the wooden porch of their home, underneath also the cover of the overlooking roof that reached out to hold the snow up.
    Blaze’s dark ash colored hair was tied loosely in a braid that hung down his back. He concentrated staring in to a cup of green tea he was sipping on.
    “Morning Itsumi!” Iku said brightly.
    “Yeah,” I said in return sarcastically, “If you slept on a cold windowsill.”
    “Oh that would make a start for a wonderful day!” Iku laughed.
    I noticed then that Iku wasn’t wearing his winter uniform. It was just the usual boy’s uniform that most of them wore when it was a warm day. But it shouldn’t have been a surprise, counting that he had a gift to bend ice to his will, and snow is just tiny pieces of harmless ice.
    Blaze like me was wearing a winter uniform. He once told me he hated anything cold, but cared for his brother even though he could control those things.
    “We decided to wait for you,” Iku went on. “Well, Blaze asked me to wait for you. I wanted to walk a little out in the snow before it melted later today.”
    “Thank you,” I replied confused.
    “Now come on!” Iku said pulling on my arm. “Today we have to get to school to meet with the headmaster.”
    “Why?”
    “How should I know? He only told Blaze, and Blaze won’t tell me.”
    I nodded to show I understood. Iku motioned for Blaze to come with us. I have to say that Blaze didn’t even hesitate to stand up. He downed his piping hot green tea in one swig, left the cup on the porch before walking over to stand by me.
    “Ah,” Iku crooned, “I love walking in snow in the morning. It’s like trotting through a meadow laden with flowers."
    I cocked an eyebrow. “Are you sure you don’t want to be a writer?”
    “Oh I would never survive!” Iku said as he began to run ahead of us.
    “He is definitely dramatic,” I said to Blaze.
    Blaze smirked, but didn’t make eye contact. He began walking slowly, watching as his feet made contact with the snow. Unlike my shoes, Blaze’s were still dry, even from the snow. I looked up at him curiously, to see snow falling on his head and then sizzling in to steam.
    I couldn’t help but laugh. It isn’t every day you see a walking fire. Blaze looked at me clueless, not seeing the reason that I was laughing.
    “Sooo, what is the headmaster talking to us about?” I asked him perkily.
    “He wants to put more guards on the night shift,” Blaze said keeping his eyes in front of him.
    “I can understand that,” I went on to say, “Most of the fights have occurred at night with the followers of Ambrose. But would it be wise to lessen up on the morning shift?”
    “He hopes that we can be able to do both.”
    “What? Do you know how hard it is for me to even get up in the morning? I tell you the other guards won’t be pleased when they hear this.”
    “Either way it would be best if they did. You sleep in most of your classes anyway don’t you?”
    I blushed. “Well yes, but I still hold a B average in class.”
    “Think what grade you would get if you stayed awake.”
    I sighed bored. For the first time that morning Blaze looked straight at me. His soft eyes seemed to be looking for some answer to his question he had asked. I really still couldn’t answer it. Not with all that was going on.
    I mean think about it. The Bone Singers Graveyard City was discovered and then massacred. I was sent with my friend Dee to look about to see what had happened when no reports of activity or bone cages being made happened for more then a week. We had been ensnared in a maze for quite some time until I had been able to figure out Dee’s ribbon trick wasn’t working. She had tied a ribbon to a gravestone each time we passed through that area, but soon on one gravestone we had ten ribbons.
    It took a while to figure out the each white rose on a grave mean to turn right, and each lily meant go left. Not only was that what happened, but the Earth Singers had all of a sudden let the Sakura orchard become wilted and dying, when year round it was one of the most romantic places to visit. Blaze and Iku had discovered at the same time we did that instead of being killed the Earth Singers had relocated to a safer home.
    “Blaze?” I asked him.
    “Yeah?”
    “The headmaster knows the guards during the day and night are perfect. It’s something about the Order of Ambrose is close to figuring out how to get in the city for a major infiltration before any of us can do anything isn’t it?”
    Blaze shook his head. “No.”
    “Then what? It can’t be the night shift.”
    Blaze stopped abruptly. He looked at me sympathetically, so sadly I knew it was bad.
    “They found out who Ambrose really was, and you really need to know.”
    “Tell me then!” I said stomping my foot.
    Blaze turned his gaze to the ground. “Ambrose is your father.”
    Everything became a blur as I realized what he was saying. A dull roaring sound berated my head like a drum.
    “Hey,” Blaze said shaking my shoulder. “I know it’s a shock, but we kind of had a feeling. I mean when you last saw Ambrose he was intent on killing everyone, but when he caught sight of you, his retreat was issued so abruptly.”
    “That doesn’t mean anything!” I cried bursting in to tears. “My mother wouldn’t let Dad near me as a baby. She stayed for only a few days to recuperate from having me before running off to the war realm to lead the Amazons. But she would never fall in love with her enemy.”
    Blaze’s eyes softened. He pulled me in to a hug. His hold on me was tight, but my arms hung limply to my sides.
    “Love works oddly,” he whispered in my ear. “I love you, even though I know you see me with nothing more then the eyes of friendship.”
    I pulled away, tears streaming down my face. “First you tell me that my Father is Ambrose, the man I have fought, the man I swore to defeat,” I sobbed, “Then you assume I don’t love you? Blaze I love you more then anything.”
    Blaze opened his mouth to reply, but I didn’t listen. I ran towards Iku, then past him, tears falling in to the snow. The school came in to view sooner then it usually did. As I ran towards my two friends, Dee and Shima the cold air felt painful in my lungs.
    “Itsumi!” Shima called out.
    She grabbed my arm; concern was in her eyes. “What happened?”
    “I’m such an idiot!” I cried.
    “That isn’t explaining that’s bashing your self esteem. Tell me come on!”
    I began to sob out my story, letting her know why I felt this way. Her eyes darkened, now she seemed to be the goddess of the underworld, in her Goth black clothing and black hair. She didn’t go to my school; she just hung around for meetings with the headmaster.
    “Well, I’m not siding with anyone but, you should know guys will only wait for something so long. But he shouldn’t of assumed either that you didn’t feel that way,” Shima said firmly.
    I heard Iku and Blaze arguing behind me. Shima motioned for me to go ahead inside to warm up. I sniffed and ran without looking back into the warm halls of the school. Shima would be yelling very loudly at Blaze if she were really frustrated.
    I walked in to my first class, still vacant of anyone else and sat down. I let my tears fall on the desk glad nobody else would bother me for crying. As I looked out at the snow, I realized my tears fell like the snow did here. Sometime rarely, but usually unwanted by a few people.
    I sighed to myself again. The world just seemed awful today. I learn that my Father could be the menace Ambrose, and that the guy I suddenly realized I was head over heels for, thought I only saw him as a friend. My lips trembled again as more tears fell on to the desk. This was the time I needed to use to figure out the news Blaze had given me. I was suddenly thankful for Shima’s loud voice screaming at Blaze. While she yelled I would be able to think without being bothered by anyone unwanted.